Broadsides and Boarding Parties Review (Milton Bradley)
I have always been aware of Broadsides and Boarding Parties (B&P) by Milton Bradley. From the first time I laid eyes on the large plastic ships with masts that stick up over a foot off the game table I became filled with a yearning desire to play and own the game. Appealing to the plastic-whore inside of me I’ve been keeping an eye out hoping to find a copy for a reasonable price for some time. Over that time I’ve seen copies pop up on eBay or at local game auctions but the price was always driven higher than I was willing to spend at the time, but recently I was able to finalize a trade which brought a pretty good copy of the game into my possession. As I unpacked the parcel and started playing with all the plastic bits, I felt as giddy as I did on Christmas about fifteen years back when I opened up BattleMasters for the first time.
That night I ripped into the rules because I just had to know how to put these great toys to use. And it is then that my heart and excitement started to sink. I had heard that the game was a fairly simple affair so I wasn’t expecting a whole lot of depth or complexity but being part of the GameMaster Series I was expecting more than what I was reading.
The game takes place over two phases the Broadside Phase and the Boarding Party Phase. During the Broadside phase players use small little ships to sail around the map which details a small area of sea spattered with a few islands. Superimposed on the map is a dot grid with lines connecting at ninety and forty five degree angles creating eight directions out of each point and these points and lines determine movement and facing. During this phase players move around the map by using a plotting system where each player takes three cards from their movement deck, places them face down in the order they want to execute the moves. Similar to systems used in Space Alert and Robo Rally. The movement options are Move Forward, Stand Still, Turn Port and Turn Starboard.
Once players have selected their movement for the turn one card at a time is flipped over and players move their ship according to the card selected. This process is then repeated for the next two cards. But, if the two ships land on adjacent and connected dots after a card flip it is possible for both ships to open up with their cannons and try to pepper the enemy to weaken them up before the Boarding Party portion of the game. Depending on the facing of the ships in relation to each other determines how many shots each ship will get on the other. Once the number of shots is determined players select which area of the ship they want to target (there are eight “zones” that can be attacked). Once a player selects the zone they roll a dice and depending on what they roll the shots can can cause masts to be blown off, crew members killed, cannons destroyed, structural damage to the ship or just harmlessly plonk into the sea.
This dance between the two ships goes on for a while but at some point the chances are high that these two ships will meet in the same dot on the map as they jockey for the better firing angle. When this happens the Broadside portion of the game ends and the Boarding Parties portion beings. The map where the smaller ships were sailing around is cleared, masts removed from the large ships which are then placed next to each other with an orientation dependent on how the ships collided with one another. During this phase players move their crew members around the deck and over onto their opponent’s ship all with the effort of killing the opposing captain in hand to hand combat.
Players get three moves a turn which can be divided between various crew members or used to move one crew member three spaces. After a player has conduced their three moves combat takes place with each side rolling a dice and adding to the roll the difference in crew strength. For example if one side had three crew members and the other side had one the side with three would add +2 to their dice roll. The losing side removes a crew member. The differential in crew is calculated again, more dice are rolled and this process is continued until one side is eliminated from the space. Players then go back and forth with players executing three moves and rolling for combat until one side’s captain is slain - The winner being the surviving captain.
As I mentioned when I first started to read the rules I was less than impressed and a ball of regret started to form. I wasn’t sure if I made the right decision to try to acquire this game and had I read the rules beforehand, even though the toy factor is strong, I’m not sure if it would have overcome how unexcited I was while reading. The lavish production of the game didn’t match the simplicity of the rules and that caused my worry.
Finally though the game hit the table and as our little ships picked up anchors and sailed out of port I started to get excited again. The movement around the map started to get interesting as we closed together. I tried to get inside my opponent’s head trying to out fox and out maneuver him attempting to get maximum firepower from my cannons while minimizing him. As our ships sustained more and more damage the time came for the crews to leave the ships attempting to board the other. The excitement and overall level of fun was rising and eventually we were laughing and chucking dice like there was no tomorrow.
What resulted from that first game was a gaming memory that will last a lifetime and that alone makes any game worth the price in my opinion. The captains of both ships must have been cursed or something before they left port. As our ships first closed within firing range the first volley of the battle was unleashed with me rolling first, killing a couple of crew members as well as destroying a few cannons. “Great opening volley” I thought but then the return fire happened with my captain taking a cannonball to the head. This caused my crew to panic while a new captain was field promoted causing me to miss my next movement phase. This allowed my opponent to sail around me peppering me with 12 more shots.
Some poor dice rolls lessened the damage I should have taken, but I was in pretty poor shape compared to the other ship. And then we finally moved to the same space and the Boarding Parties Phase began. We lined up the ships and lo my opponent’s captain was standing there with one other crew member right across from two of my crew mates. A quick roll to determine who would go first was executed and I won allowing me to move my guys first. As soon as the ships were grappled together these two crew members jumped over their railings giving the opposing captain what for. A few dice rolls later the captain was dead and my plundering of his ship began.
Overall the game is simple and has a heavy dose of luck. The ships and components are a bit problematic especially since some of the places where you’re supposed to balance crew and cannons are tilted. The masts are loose and have a potential of falling at the first strong table knock, but despite the problems of the game and production it more than makes up for it in terms of pure fun. As my captain took a cannonball to the head my opponent struck the pose of the captain figure and acted out the final moments of my captain before his head exploded. We laughed as my dudes jumped the rail and planted a nice shot between the eyes of the opposing captain and laughed as the rest of his crew dropped arms and surrendered.
Yes, I was behind in the game before a few lucky rolls went my way, but what I’ve found is defying the odds, getting a little bit of luck and having game mechanics that allows some improbable things to happen is what got me into gaming in the first place. The laughs we have had and gratification of a positive shared experience, those are the main reasons why I game and Broadsides and Boarding Parties delivers on those experiences. Even though the game box is huge and the components grossly more than what is needed the game is quick at about 45 mins or so and heaps of goofy fun.
Rating: 4 out of 5
‘Til Next Time - Happy Gaming
LvT
